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Radhika Yadav did not own academy, booked tennis courts to train people: Cops' U-turn

Radhika Yadav, 25, was shot dead by her father Deepak Yadav while she was cooking a meal for her mother at their Gurugram home.

Updated on: Jul 12, 2025, 16:08:38 IST
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Tennis player Radhika Yadav, who was shot dead by her father Deepak, did not own any tennis academy, and used to book tennis courts at different places to train aspirants, which her father objected to, police revealed on Saturday.

Police said that Deepak had asked daughter Radhika Yadav several times to stop the training sessions, but she refused. (HT Photo)
Police said that Deepak had asked daughter Radhika Yadav several times to stop the training sessions, but she refused. (HT Photo)

A former state-level tennis player, Radhika was shot dead by her father while she was cooking a meal for her mother in the kitchen.

Earlier, the police said that Radhika ran a tennis academy which became a source of disagreement between the two as Deepak was often taunted for living off his daughter’s income. The accused was financially stable with rental income and was not dependent on his daughter’s earnings, but as people taunted him, Deepak became depressed for last couple of weeks, police said.

Also read: Radhika Yadav was shot by father while cooking breakfast for mother's birthday. Chilling details

Father against training sessions

Talking about the tensions between father and daughter, an investigating officer told news agency PTI that “Deepak had asked her (Radhika) several times to stop the training sessions, but she refused. That was the main tussle between the father and daughter." The accused also repeatedly said that he does not want his daughter to earn through training, according to inspector Vinod Kumar of Sector 56 police station.

Police have also ruled out any link between the murder and a music video Radhika Yadav featured in. The video went viral after her death as it was speculated that Deepak objected to it.

"The video was uploaded in 2023, it has no connection with the murder. The accused has repeatedly said that he did not want his daughter to earn through training," said inspector Vinod Kumar.

Meanwhile, Radhika's family’s close relatives claim that Deepak had supported her tennis career since childhood.

Radhika's murder took place at her two-storey residence in Gurugram's Sushant Lok area on Thursday. According to the police, Deepak confessed to the killing and was produced in court on Friday, after which he was sent for one-day police custody.

During investigation, the police recovered five bullets and one live cartridge from Deepak's Sector 57 residence. The accused was also taken to a village in Pataudi.

(With inputs from PTI)

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